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The first inhabitants in the Santa Cruz area were small groups of Native Americans. The Ohlone were a semi-nomadic tribe that hunted game and marine mammals and supplemented their diets with shellfish, fish, edible roots and shoots, acorns, nuts, and seeds. The Ohlone raised medicinal plants and herbs. They made tools from locally found stones and shells. Their crafts included shellfish jewelry and baskets.[3]

The displacement of the natives began with the Spanish colonization of the Americas when missionaries and soldiers brought the Ohlone into the missions. The population of Native Americans was greatly reduced by European diseases to which they had no resistance.[3] Governance of the area was transferred from Spain to Mexico after the Mexican War of Independence. The citizens of Mexico used what is now Natural Bridges State Beach as pasture land for their cattle. California became part of the United States after the Mexican–American War.[3]

The area in and around the park later supported a dairy farm, a brussels sprouts farm, hotel, housing for mill workers, a South Seas movie set and a failed housing development.[3] The land was purchased by the State of California in 1933 and construction of the state beach facilities began in 1954. The land surrounding the park was largely wild and undeveloped until the 1970s. The park is now surrounded by beach development and commercial properties.[3]

Natural Bridges State Beach is named for the naturally occurring mudstone bridges that were carved by the Pacific Ocean into cliffs that jutted out into the sea. The arches formed over a million years ago when a combination of silt, clay and diatoms were solidified into a mixture of stone that formed the three original arches of the beach.[3] Wave erosion carved the arches and then cut away the cliffs leaving only islands. Of the three original arches only the middle one remains. The outermost arch fell during the early 20th century and the inner arch collapsed during a storm in 1980.[3][4] The middle arch is in danger of collapsing as well due to erosion by wind and waves. Visitors were formerly permitted to climb up, walk and even drive on the bridges. Now the arch is closed to public access.[3]

Natural Bridges State Beach is home to a eucalyptus grove that provided habitat for monarch butterflies. Up to 150,000 butterflies migrate up to 2,000 miles (3,200 km) to the park to escape the cold weather of winter in the northwestern United States and Canada.[2][5] The city of Santa Cruz holds an annual festival to mark the return of the butterflies.[5] Monarchs settle in groves along the coasts of California and Baja California. At Natural Bridges State Beach they find shelter from the wind and sources of water and food. The butterflies cluster onto the trees, "intertwining their legs among the branches to resemble a clump of leaves."[3] The butterflies protect each other from cold winter winds and rains by clustering together.[3] Beginning in the late 1990s the population of butterflies at the park began to decline. Biologist attribute the decline to a lack of habitat caused by fallen pine and eucalyptus trees.[6] The decline at Natural Bridges State Beach has meant an increase in butterfly numbers at nearby Lighthouse Field State Beach.[6]

The 65-acre (26 ha) of the park have a variety of habitats. Saltwater and freshwater marshes are found on Moore Creek. Coastal Scrub surrounds the margins and undeveloped interior areas of the park. Sand dunes and a fresh water pond are also found at the park.[7]

Natural Bridges State Marine Reserve is a marine protected area off the coast of Natural Bridges State Beach. Like an underwater park, this marine protected area helps conserve ocean wildlife and marine ecosystems.

Natural Bridges State Beach is open to year-round recreation including swimming, surfing, hiking, nature walks and picnics. The beach is small and sheltered. The afternoon winds attract kite flying and wind surfing. The beach is open to surfing and is busiest during the winter when large swells wash up onto the shores of Natural Bridges State Beach. Hiking trails pass through the Moore Creek estuary and the Monarch Butterfly Nature Preserve. Guided tours of the butterfly preserve take place on weekends during the fall and winter. Tours of the tidal pools take place year-round as do nature walks.[3]

Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. They are a grouping within the infraorderCetacea, usually excluding dolphins. Whales and porpoises belong to the order Cetartiodactyla with even-toed ungulates and their closest living relatives are the hippopotamuses, the two parvorders of whales, baleen whales and toothed whales, are thought to have split apart around 34 million years ago. The whales comprise eight extant families, Balaenidae, Eschrichtiidae, Physeteridae, Whales are creatures of the open ocean, they feed, give birth and raise their young at sea. So extreme is their adaptation to life underwater that they are unable to survive on land. Whales range in size from the 2.6 metres and 135 kilograms dwarf sperm whale to the 29.9 metres and 190 metric tons blue whale, the sperm whale is the largest toothed predator on earth. Several species exhibit sexual dimorphism, in that the females are larger than males, baleen whales have no teeth, instead they have plates of baleen, a fringe-like structure used to expel water while retaining the krill and plankton which they feed on.

They use their throat pleats to expand the mouth to take in huge gulps of water, balaenids have heads that can make up 40% of their body mass to take in water. Toothed whales, on the hand, have conical teeth designed for catching fish or squid. Some species, such as whales, are well adapted for diving to great depths to catch squid. Whales have evolved from land-living mammals, as such they must breathe air regularly, though they can remain submerged for long periods. They have blowholes located on top of their heads, through air is taken in. They are warm-blooded, and have a layer of fat, or blubber, under the skin, with streamlined fusiform bodies and two limbs that are modified into flippers, whales can travel at up to 20 knots, though they are not as flexible or agile as seals. Whales produce a variety of vocalizations, notably the extended songs of the humpback whale. Although whales are widespread, most species prefer the waters of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Species such as humpbacks and blue whales are capable of travelling thousands of miles without feeding, males typically mate with multiple females every year, but females only mate every two to three years.

Calves are typically born in the spring and summer months and females bear all the responsibility for raising them, mothers of some species fast and nurse their young for one to two years. Once relentlessly hunted for their products, whales are now protected by international law, the North Atlantic right whales nearly became extinct in the twentieth century, with a population low of 450, and the North Pacific gray whale population is ranked Critically Endangered by the IUCN

A natural arch, natural bridge or, less commonly, a rock arch is a natural rock formation where an arch has formed with an opening underneath. Natural arches commonly form where inland cliffs, coastal cliffs, fins or stacks are subject to erosion from the sea, most natural arches are formed from narrow fins and sea stacks composed of sandstone or limestone with steep, often vertical, cliff faces. The formations become narrower due to erosion over time scales. The softer rock stratum erodes away creating rock shelters, or alcoves, on sides of the formation beneath the relatively harder stratum, or caprock. The alcoves erode further into the formation eventually meeting underneath the harder caprock layer, the choice between bridge and arch is somewhat arbitrary. The Natural Arch and Bridge Society identifies a bridge as a subtype of arch that is primarily water-formed, by contrast, the Dictionary of Geological Terms defines a natural bridge as a natural arch that spans a valley of erosion. The largest natural arch, by a significant margin, is the Xianren Bridge in China, on coasts two different types of arches can form depending on the geology.

On discordant coastlines rock types run at 90° to the coast, wave refraction concentrates the wave energy on the headland, and an arch forms when caves break through the headland. Two examples of type of arch are London Arch—previously known as London Bridge—in Victoria, Australia. When these arches eventually collapse, they form stacks and stumps, on concordant coastlines rock types run parallel to the coastline, with weak rock such as shale protected by stronger rock such as limestone. The wave action along concordant coastlines breaks through the strong rock, good examples of this type of arch are the Durdle Door and Stair Hole near Lulworth Cove on Dorsets Jurassic Coast in south England. When Stair Hole eventually collapses it will form a cove, weather-eroded arches begin their formation as deep cracks which penetrate into a sandstone layer. Erosion occurring within the cracks wears away exposed rock layers and enlarges the surface cracks isolating narrow sandstone walls which are called fins, alternating frosts and thawing cause crumbling and flaking of the porous sandstone and eventually cut through some of the fins.

The resulting holes become enlarged to arch proportions by rockfalls and weathering, the arches eventually collapse leaving only buttresses that in time will erode. Many weather-eroded arches are found in Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, some natural bridges may look like arches, but they form in the path of streams that wear away and penetrate the rock. Pothole arches form by chemical weathering as water collects in natural depressions, Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah protects the area surrounding three large natural bridges all of which were formed by streams running through canyons. The largest of which is named Sipapu Bridge with a span of 225 feet, Natural bridges can form from natural limestone caves, where paired sinkholes collapse and a ridge of stone is left standing in between, with the cave passageway connecting from sinkhole to sinkhole. Like all rock formations, natural bridges are subject to continued erosion, one example of this was the double-arched Victorian coastal rock formation, London Bridge, which lost an arch after storms increased erosion

Shellfish is a culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some kinds are found in freshwater, in addition, a few species of land crabs are eaten, for example Cardisoma guanhumi in the Caribbean. Despite the name, shellfish are not a kind of fish, many varieties of shellfish are actually closely related to insects and arachnids, making up one of the main classes of the phylum Arthropoda. Cephalopods and bivalves are molluscs, as are snails and slugs, familiar marine molluscs used as a food source by humans include many species of clams, oysters and scallops. Some crustaceans commonly eaten are shrimp, crayfish, echinoderms are not as frequently harvested for food as molluscs and crustaceans, sea urchin roe is quite popular in many parts of the world. Most shellfish eat a diet composed primarily of phytoplankton and zooplankton, Shellfish are among the most common food allergens.

The term shellfish is used broadly and specifically. In common parlance, as in having shellfish for dinner, it can refer to anything from clams and oysters to lobster, for regulatory purposes it is often narrowly defined as filter-feeding molluscs such as clams and oyster to the exclusion of crustaceans and all else. Although the term is applied to marine species, edible freshwater invertebrates such as crayfish. Although their shells may differ, all shellfish are invertebrates, the word shellfish is both singular and plural, the rarely used shellfishes is sometimes employed to distinguish among various types of shellfish. Archaeological finds have shown that humans have been making use of shellfish as an item for hundreds of thousands of years. In the Japanese cuisine, chefs often use shellfish and their roe in different dishes, sushi features both raw and cooked shellfish. Sashimi primarily consists of fresh raw seafood, sliced into thin pieces. Both sushi and sashimi are served with soy sauce and wasabipaste, thinly sliced pickled ginger root, and a simple garnish such as shiso or finely shredded daikonradish, or both.

Hermit crabs are decapodcrustaceans of the superfamilyPaguroidea. Most of the approximately 1100 species possess an asymmetrical abdomen that is concealed in a gastropod shell carried around by the hermit crab. Most species have long, spirally curved abdomens, which are soft, unlike the hard, the vulnerable abdomen is protected from predators by a salvaged empty seashell carried by the hermit crab, into which its whole body can retract. Most frequently, hermit crabs use the shells of sea snails, the tip of the hermit crabs abdomen is adapted to clasp strongly onto the columella of the snail shell. Hermit crabs can be divided into two groups, The first group is the hermit crabs. These crabs spend most of their life underwater as aquatic animals, live in varying depths of saltwater from shallow reefs and shorelines to deep sea bottoms, as pets, several marine species of hermit crabs are common in the marine aquarium trade. They are commonly kept in fish tanks. They breathe through gills but they dont have to carry around their water to do so, most can survive briefly out of water as long as their gills are damp.

However, this ability is not as developed as it is in land hermit crabs, a few species do not use a mobile home and inhabit immobile structures left by polychaete worms, vermetid gastropods and sponges. They belong to the family Coenobitidae, other species, such as Coenobita brevimanus, Coenobita rugosus, Coenobita perlatus or Coenobita cavipes, are less common but growing in availability and popularity as pets. As hermit crabs grow, they require larger shells, since suitable intact gastropod shells are sometimes a limited resource, vigorous competition often occurs among hermit crabs for shells. The availability of empty shells at any given place depends on the abundance of gastropods and hermit crabs. An equally important issue is the population of organisms that prey upon gastropods, hermit crabs kept together may fight or kill a competitor to gain access to the shell they favour. However, if the crabs vary significantly in size, the occurrence of fights over empty shells will decrease or remain nonexistent.

Hermit crabs with too-small shells cannot grow as fast as those with well-fitting shells, as the hermit crab grows in size, it must find a larger shell and abandon the previous one. This habit of living in a second-hand shell gives rise to the name hermit crab. Several hermit crab species, both terrestrial and marine, have been observed forming a chain to exchange shells. When an individual finds a new empty shell it will leave its own shell

Game or quarry is any animal hunted for sport or for food. The type and range of animals hunted for food varies in different parts of the world, in some countries, game is classified, including legal classification with respect to licences required, as either small game or large game. Game or quarry is any animal hunted for sport or for food, the term game arises in medieval hunting terminology by the late 13th century and is particular to English, from the generic meaning of Old English gamen joy, sport, merriment. Small game includes animals, such as rabbits, pheasants. Large game includes animals like deer and bear, big game is a term sometimes used interchangeably with large game although in other contexts it refers to large, typically African, mammals which are hunted mainly for trophies in safaris. The type and range of animals hunted for food varies in different parts of the world and this is influenced by climate, animal diversity, local taste and locally accepted views about what can or cannot be legitimately hunted.

Sometimes a distinction is made between varieties and species of a particular animal, such as wild turkey and domestic turkey. Fish caught for sport are referred to as game fish, the flesh of the animal, when butchered for consumption is often described as having a gamey flavour. This difference in taste can be attributed to the diet of the animal. In some countries, game is classified, including legal classification with respect to licences required, a single small game licence may cover all small game species and be subject to yearly bag limits. Large game are often subject to individual licensing where a licence is required for each individual animal taken. In some parts of Africa, wild animals hunted for their meat are called bushmeat, see article for more detailed information on how this operates within the economy. In Africa, animals hunted for their pelts or ivory are sometimes referred to as the big game, see the legal definition of game in Swaziland. South Africa has 62 species of gamebirds, including guineafowl, partridge, sandgrouse, geese, bustard, of the remaining 41 species,24 have shown an increase in numbers and distribution range in the last 25 years or so.

The status of 14 species appears unchanged, with insufficient information being available for the three species. S. and Canada, deer are the most commonly hunted big game. Other game species include, In the PRC there is a special category called ye wei. In the UK game is defined in law by the Game Act 1831 and it is illegal to shoot game on Sundays or at night. Other that are hunted for food in the UK are specified under the Wildlife, the ban is generally considered voluntary on private lands, and few birds live away from RSPB or Forestry Commission land allegedly

The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of the Earths oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, the Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres. Both the center of the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere are in the Pacific Ocean, the oceans current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favourable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico, which in both Portuguese and Spanish means peaceful sea, important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times. Long-distance trade developed all along the coast from Mozambique to Japan and therefore knowledge, extended to the Indonesian islands but apparently not Australia. By at least 878 when there was a significant Islamic settlement in Canton much of trade was controlled by Arabs or Muslims.

It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska and the Philippines, New Zealand and the South Pacific. Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by other European powers, and later, Japan, in Oceania, France got a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853 respectively. After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro managed to negotiate an incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888, by occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations

A nomad is a member of a community of people who live in different locations, moving from one place to another. Among the various ways nomads relate to their environment, one can distinguish the hunter-gatherer, as of 1995, there were an estimated 30–40 million nomads in the world. Nomadic hunting and gathering, following seasonally available wild plants and game, is by far the oldest human subsistence method, pastoralists raise herds, driving them, or moving with them, in patterns that normally avoid depleting pastures beyond their ability to recover. Nomadism is a lifestyle adapted to regions such as steppe, tundra, or ice and sand. For example, many groups in the tundra are reindeer herders and are semi-nomadic and these nomads sometimes adapt the use of high technology such as solar photovoltaics to reduce their dependence on diesel fuel. These groups are known as peripatetic nomads, a nomad is a person with no settled home, moving from place to place as a way of obtaining food, finding pasture for livestock, or otherwise making a living.

The word Nomad comes from a Greek word that one who wanders for pasture. Most nomadic groups follow an annual or seasonal pattern of movements and settlements. Nomadic peoples traditionally travel by animal or canoe or on foot, some nomads travel by motor vehicle. Most nomads live in tents or other portable shelters, Nomads keep moving for different reasons. Nomadic foragers move in search of game, edible plants, the Australian Aborigines, Negritos of Southeast Asia, and San of Africa, for example, traditionally move from camp to camp to hunt and to gather wild plants. Some tribes of the Americas followed this way of life, Pastoral nomads make their living raising livestock, such as camels, goats, sheep, or yaks. These nomads travel to find more camels and sheep through the deserts of Arabia, the Fulani and their cattle travel through the grasslands of Niger in western Africa. Some nomadic peoples, especially herders, may move to raid settled communities or avoid enemies. Nomadic craftworkers and merchants travel to find and serve customers and they include the Lohar blacksmiths of India, the Romani traders, and the Irish Travellers.

Most nomads travel in groups of families called bands or tribes and these groups are based on kinship and marriage ties or on formal agreements of cooperation. A council of adult males makes most of the decisions, though some tribes have chiefs, in the case of Mongolian nomads, a family moves twice a year. These two movements would generally occur during the summer and winter, the winter location is usually located near mountains in a valley and most families already have their fixed winter locations

There is a significant population from Central America, many immigrants moved to Baja California for a better quality of life and the number of higher paying jobs in comparison to the rest of Mexico and Latin America. Baja California is the twelfth largest state by area in Mexico and its geography ranges from beaches to forests and deserts. The backbone of the state is the Sierra de Baja California, where the Picacho del Diablo and this mountain range effectively divides the weather patterns in the state. In the northwest, the weather is semi-dry and mediterranean, in the narrow center, the weather changes to be more humid due to altitude. It is in area where a few valleys can be found, such as the Valle de Guadalupe. To the east of the range, the Sonoran Desert dominates the landscape. In the south, the weather becomes drier and gives way to the Vizcaino Desert, the state is home to numerous islands off both of its shores. In fact, the westernmost point in Mexico, the Guadalupe Island, is part of Baja California, the Coronado, Todos Santos and Cedros Islands are on the Pacific Shore.

On the Gulf of California, the biggest island is the Angel de la Guarda, separated from the peninsula by the deep, the first people came to the peninsula at least 11,000 years ago. At that time two main groups are thought to have been present on the peninsula. In the south were the Cochimí, in the north were several groups belonging to the Yuman language family, including the Kiliwa, Kumeyaay and Quechan

Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California. As of 2013 the U. S. Census Bureau estimated Santa Cruzs population at 62,864, Santa Cruz is known for its moderate climate, the natural beauty of its coastline, redwood forests, alternative community lifestyles, and socially liberal leanings. The present-day site of Santa Cruz was the location of Spanish settlement beginning in 1791, including Mission Santa Cruz, following the Mexican–American War of 1846–48, California became the 31st state in 1850. The City of Santa Cruz was incorporated in 1866 and chartered in April 1876, important early industries included lumber, gunpowder and agriculture. Late in the 19th century, Santa Cruz established itself as a resort community. Prior to the arrival of Spanish soldiers and colonists in the late 18th century, the diverse and numerous tribes of this region were earlier referred to by the Spanish as Coastanoan. The term Ohlone has been used in place of Costanoan since the 1970s by some descendant groups and by most ethnographers and writers of popular literature.

Awaswa was one of the eight Coastanoan languages and made up a tribe of Native Americas living in Western Santa Cruz County, the Awaswas tribe was made up of no more than one thousand people and their language is now extinct. The only remnants of their language are three local place names, Aptos and Zayante, and the name of a native shellfish - abalone. The majority of Ohlone or Coastanoan tribes had no written language, within fifty years of the Spaniards arrival, the Ohlone or Coastanoan culture and way of life had virtually disappeared in the Bay area. The party forded the river and camped nearby on October 17,1769, franciscanmissionaryJuan Crespi, traveling with the expedition, noted in his diary that, This river was named San Lorenzo. Next morning, the set out again, and Crespi noted that. Santa Cruz was the mission to be founded in California. The creek, lost the name, and is today as Laurel Creek because it parallels Laurel Street. It is the feeder of Neary Lagoon. One of only three towns established in California during the Spanish colonial period, the Villa was located across the San Lorenzo River.

Its original main street is now North Branciforte Avenue, Villa de Branciforte lost its civic status, and in 1905 the area was annexed into the City of Santa Cruz. In the 1820s, newly independent Mexico assumed control of the area, following the secularization of the Mission in 1834, the community that had grown up around the Mission was renamed Pueblo de Figueroa

The acorn, or oak nut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives. It usually contains a seed, enclosed in a tough, leathery shell. Acorns are 1–6 cm long and 0. 8–4 cm broad, Acorns take between 6 and 24 months to mature, see List of Quercus species for details of oak classification, in which acorn morphology and phenology are important factors. Acorns play an important role in forest ecology when oaks are the dominant species or are plentiful, the volume of the acorn crop may vary wildly, creating great abundance or great stress on the many animals dependent on acorns and the predators of those animals. Acorns, along with nuts, are termed mast. Wildlife that consume acorns as an important part of their diets includes birds, such as jays, some ducks, small mammals that feed on acorns include mice and several other rodents. Large mammals such as pigs and deer consume large amounts of acorns, in Spain and the New Forest region of southern England, pigs are still turned loose in dehesas in the autumn, to fill and fatten themselves on acorns.

Heavy consumption of acorns can, on the hand, be toxic to other animals that cannot detoxify their tannins, such as horses. The larvae of moths and weevils live in young acorns. Acorns are attractive to animals because they are large and thus efficiently consumed or cached, Acorns are rich in nutrients. Percentages vary from species to species, but all acorns contain large amounts of protein and fats, as well as the calcium and potassium. Total food energy in an acorn varies by species, but all well with other wild foods. Acorns contain bitter tannins, the amount varying with the species, since tannins, which are plant polyphenols, interfere with an animals ability to metabolize protein, creatures must adapt in different ways to use the nutritional value acorns contain. Animals may preferentially select acorns that contain fewer tannins, when the tannins are metabolized in cattle, the tannic acid produced can cause ulceration and kidney failure. Animals that cache acorns, such as jays and squirrels, may wait to consume some of these acorns until sufficient groundwater has percolated through them to leach out the tannins, other animals buffer their acorn diet with other foods.

Many insects and mammals metabolize tannins with fewer ill effects than do humans, species of acorn that contain large amounts of tannins are very bitter and potentially irritating if eaten raw. This is particularly true of the acorns of American red oaks, the acorns of white oaks, being much lower in tannins, are nutty in flavor, this characteristic is enhanced if the acorns are given a light roast before grinding. Tannins can be removed by soaking chopped acorns in several changes of water, being rich in fat, acorn flour can spoil or molder easily and must be carefully stored

Kelps are large seaweeds belonging to the brown algae in the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera, Kelp grows in underwater forests in shallow oceans, and is thought to have appeared in the Miocene,23 to 5 million years ago. The organisms require nutrient-rich water with temperatures between 6 and 14 °C and they are known for their high growth rate—the genera Macrocystis and Nereocystis can grow as fast as half a metre a day, ultimately reaching 30 to 80 metres. Through the 19th century, the word kelp was closely associated with seaweeds that could be burned to obtain soda ash, the seaweeds used included species from both the orders Laminariales and Fucales. The word kelp was used directly to refer to these processed ashes, in most kelp, the thallus consists of flat or leaf-like structures known as blades. Blades originate from elongated stem-like structures, the stipes, the holdfast, a root-like structure, anchors the kelp to the substrate of the ocean. Gas-filled bladders form at the base of blades of American species, such as Nereocystis lueteana, growth occurs at the base of the meristem, where the blades and stipe meet.

Growth may be limited by grazing, sea urchins, for example, can reduce entire areas to urchin barrens. The kelp life cycle involves a diploidsporophyte and haploid gametophyte stage, the haploid phase begins when the mature organism releases many spores, which germinate to become male or female gametophytes. Sexual reproduction results in the beginning of the sporophyte stage. The parenchymatous thalli are generally covered with a layer, rather than cuticle. Kelp may develop dense forests with high production and ecological function, along the Norwegian coast these forests cover 5800 km2, and they support large numbers of animals. Numerous sessile animals are found on kelp stipes and mobile invertebrate fauna are found in high densities on epiphytic algae on the kelp stipes, more than 100,000 mobile invertebrates per square meter are found on kelp stipes and holdfasts in well-developed kelp forests. Giant kelp can be harvested fairly easily because of its surface canopy, bongo kelp ash is rich in iodine and alkali.

In great amount, kelp ash can be used in soap, until the Leblanc process was commercialized in the early 19th century, burning of kelp in Scotland was one of the principal industrial sources of soda ash. Alginate, a carbohydrate, is used to thicken products such as ice cream, salad dressing. Alginate powder is used frequently in general dentistry and orthodontics for making impressions of the upper and lower arches. Kombu is used to flavor broths and stews, as a garnish for rice and other dishes, as a vegetable

A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant, or other type of organism. The term typically refers to the zone in which the organism lives and it is the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the physical environment that surrounds a species population. Every organism has certain habitat needs for the conditions in which it will thrive, habitat types include polar, temperate and tropical. The terrestrial vegetation type may be forest, grassland, the word habitat has been in use since about 1755 and derives from the Latinthird-person singular present indicative of habitāre, to inhabit, from habēre, to have or to hold. Habitat can be defined as the environment of an organism. It is similar in meaning to a biotope, an area of environmental conditions associated with a particular community of plants. Generally speaking, animal communities are reliant on specific types of plant communities, some plants and animals are generalists, and their habitat requirements are met in a wide range of locations.

The small white butterfly for example is found on all the continents of the world apart from Antarctica and its larvae feed on a wide range of Brassicas and various other plant species, and it thrives in any open location with diverse plant associations. Disturbance is important in the creation of biodiverse habitats, in the absence of disturbance, a climax vegetation cover develops that prevents the establishment of other species. Lightning strikes and toppled trees in tropical forests allow species richness to be maintained as pioneering species move in to fill the gaps created. Similarly coastal habitats can become dominated by kelp until the seabed is disturbed by a storm, another cause of disturbance is when an area may be overwhelmed by an invasive introduced species which is not kept under control by natural enemies in its new habitat. Terrestrial habitat types include forests, grasslands and deserts, within these broad biomes are more specific habitats with varying climate types, temperature regimes, soils and vegetation types.

Many of these habitats grade into each other and each one has its own communities of plants. A habitat may suit a particular species well, but its presence or absence at any particular location depends to some extent on chance, on its dispersal abilities, freshwater habitats include rivers, lakes, ponds and bogs. Although some organisms are found across most of these habitats, the majority have more specific requirements, aquatic plants can be floating, semi-submerged, submerged or grow in permanently or temporarily saturated soils besides bodies of water. Marine habitats include brackish water, bays, the sea, the intertidal zone. Further variations include rock pools, sand banks, brackish lagoons and pebbly beaches, the benthic zone or seabed provides a home for both static organisms, anchored to the substrate, and for a large range of organisms crawling on or burrowing into the surface. A desert is not the kind of habitat that favours the presence of amphibians, with their requirement for water to keep their skins moist, some frogs live in deserts, creating moist habitats underground and hibernating while conditions are adverse

The International Union for Conservation of Nature is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in data gathering and …

Julian Huxley, the first Director General of UNESCO, took the initiative to set up IUCN

Santa Cruz County, California, officially the County of Santa Cruz, is a county on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 262,382. The county seat is Santa Cruz.Santa Cruz County comprises the Santa Cruz–Watsonville, CA Metropolitan Statistical …

Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California. As of 2013 the U.S. Census Bureau estimated Santa Cruz's population at 62,864. — Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, about 32 mi south of San Jose and 75 mi south of …

California is a state in the Pacific Region of the United States. With 39.6 million residents, California is the most populous U.S. state and the third-largest by area. The state capital is Sacramento. The Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second and fifth …

A natural arch, natural bridge, or rock arch is a natural rock formation where an arch has formed with an opening underneath. Natural arches commonly form where inland cliffs, coastal cliffs, fins or stacks are subject to erosion from the sea, rivers or weathering (subaerial …

A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles. The particles can also be biological in origin, such as mollusc shells or coralline algae. — Some beaches have …

The monarch butterfly or simply monarch is a milkweed butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Other common names depending on region include milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black veined brown. It may be the most familiar North American butterfly, and is …

A nomad is a member of a community of people without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from the same areas, including nomadic hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads, and tinker or trader nomads. — As of 1995, there were an …

Pastoral nomads camping near Namtso in 2005. In Tibet, nomads constitute about 40% of the ethnic Tibetan population.

Game or quarry is any animal hunted for sport or for food, and the meat of those animals. The type and range of animals hunted for food varies in different parts of the world. — Description — Game or quarry is any animal hunted for its meat or for sport. — The term game arises in medieval hunting …

Marine mammals are aquatic mammals that rely on the ocean and other marine ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as seals, whales, manatees, sea otters and polar bears. They do not represent a distinct taxon or systematic grouping, but rather have a polyphyletic relation due to …

Shellfish is a food source and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some kinds are found in freshwater. In addition …

Fish are gill-bearing aquatic craniate animals that lack limbs with digits. They form a sister group to the tunicates, together forming the olfactores. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Tetrapods …

The acorn, or oaknut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives. It usually contains a single seed, enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne in a cup-shaped cupule. Acorns are 1–6 cm long …

Acorns from small to large of the Willow Oak, Quercus phellos (very small, at center); the Southern Red Oak, Quercus falcata; the White Oak, Quercus alba; and the Scarlet Oak, Quercus coccinea; from southern Greenville County, SC, USA. Scale bar at upper right is 1 cm.

The overseas expansion under the Crown of Castile was initiated under the royal authority and first accomplished by the Spanish conquistadors. The Americas were incorporated into the Spanish Empire, with the exception of Brazil, Canada, the eastern United States and several other small countries …

Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain, is a country mostly located in Europe. Its continental European territory is situated on the Iberian Peninsula. Its territory also includes two archipelagoes: the Canary Islands off the coast of …

The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the American intervention in Mexico, was an armed conflict between the United States of America and the Second Federal Republic of Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed in the wake of the 1845 American …

A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing of animal milk – mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffaloes, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or in a section of a multi-purpose …

The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore and seashore and sometimes referred to as the littoral zone, is the area that is above water at low tide and underwater at high tide. This area can include many different types of habitats, with many …

Bancao Beach at Low Tide showing Intertidal Zone from about 200 m from the beach

Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea. Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. About 1,500 species of starfish occur on the seabed in all the world's …

Sea anemones are a group of marine, predatory animals of the order Actiniaria. They are named after the anemone, a terrestrial flowering plant, because of the colourful appearance of many. Sea anemones are classified in the phylum Cnidaria, class Anthozoa, subclass Hexacorallia. As cnidarians, sea …

The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east. — At 165,250,000 …

Diatoms are a major group of algae, specifically microalgae, found in the oceans, waterways and soils of the world. Living diatoms number in the trillions: they generate about 20 percent of the oxygen …

Light microscopy of a sampling of marine diatoms found living between crystals of annual sea ice in Antarctica, showing a multiplicity of sizes, shapes, and colors

Light microscopy of a living diatom. Numbered graduations are 10 micrometres apart

Eucalyptus is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae commonly known as eucalypts. Plants in the genus Eucalyptus have bark that is smooth, fibrous or stringy, leaves with oil glands, and sepals and petals that are fused to form …

Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's …

Sea urchins or urchins are typically spiny, globular animals, echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species live on the seabed, inhabiting all oceans and depth zones from the intertidal to 5,000 metres. Their tests are round and spiny, typically …

Kelps are large brown algae seaweeds that make up the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera.Kelp grows in "underwater forests" in shallow oceans, and is thought to have appeared in the Miocene, 23 to 5 million years ago. The organisms require nutrient-rich water …

Waders are birds commonly found along shorelines and mudflats that wade in order to forage for food in the mud or sand. They are called shorebirds in North America, where the term "wader" is used to refer to long-legged wading birds such as storks and herons. Waders …

Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. They are an informal grouping within the infraorder Cetacea, usually excluding dolphins and porpoises. Whales, dolphins and porpoises belong to the order Cetartiodactyla with even-toed ungulates and their …

Pinnipeds, commonly known as seals, are a widely distributed and diverse clade of carnivorous, fin-footed, semiaquatic marine mammals. They comprise the extant families Odobenidae, Otariidae, and Phocidae (the …

In ecology, a habitat is the type of natural environment in which a particular species of organism lives. It is characterized by both physical and biological features. A species' habitat is those places where it can find food, shelter, protection and mates for reproduction. — The physical factors are …

Fresh water is any naturally occurring water except seawater and brackish water. Fresh water includes water in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, icebergs, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, and even underground water called groundwater. Fresh water is generally characterized by …

The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict, and the culmination of a political and social process which ended the rule of Spain in 1821 in the territory of New Spain. The war had its antecedent in Napoleon's French invasion of Spain in 1808 …

Hermit crabs are decapod crustaceans of the superfamily Paguroidea.Most of the approximately 1,110 species possess an asymmetrical abdomen that is concealed in a scavenged mollusc shell carried around by the hermit crab. — Biological description — Most species have long, spirally curved …